The Divide
by Hellsleprechaun
Summary: The originals have all completed the transition except Klaus who claims he wants to die instead. A huge divide is created in the family as Esther and Rebekah are begging him to live, Finn is defending his right to die, Kol is ready to force blood down his throat, Elijah is trying to think of an alternative without murdering Finn and Mikael doesn't seem to care either way.


**I do not own the vampire diaries, it belongs to L.J Smith and the CW.**

**The reason I'm posting this as Vampire Diaries rather than as The Originals is because a lot of the characters in this are characters who have not properly appeared in The Originals.**

**In 3x08 we saw Rebekah turn and Klaus try to stop it so it made me wonder at what stage Klaus chose to drink blood and become a vampire.**

Klaus lay curled up tightly on the bed he shared with his siblings in their small, dark bedroom, the covers wrapped closely around his shaking body. He was freezing. He had most of the blankets in the house piled on top of him and it was still only Autumn so the weather was mild but he felt as though he had been plunged into a bath of ice. As though the cold had seeped through his skin and muscle and had penetrated his bones.

"Niklaus?" A tentative voice sounded from the doorway and he flinched away from it.

Rebekah felt a stab of hurt as she saw her brother recoil slightly away from her presence but pushed it aside and walked into the room towards him anyway. "You're covered in sweat." She told him with quiet alarm, using a cloth to wipe his brow.

"It's so cold in here." He mumbled, his teeth chattering in a way that she might have found comical under other circumstances.

"I'll try and find you another blanket," she lied knowing that he was already using every blanket they owned. It was not as though the rest of the family would be needing them anymore, she found that she could barely feel the cool night air, as though her skin was thicker than it used to be.

/

"He's sweating profusely but still insisting that he's cold." She informed the rest of the family as she walked into the main room. Esther quickly stood and moved swiftly into the other room to check on her son.

"We heard." Elijah replied with an edge to his voice that it took Rebekah a second to place- discomfort. The enhanced ability that their transformations had brought them was taking some getting used to.

"What are we going to do?" She asked, looking around the room for someone to have a good idea.

"We're stronger than we used to be and he's weaker, it's simple- we force the blood down his throat and save his life." Kol suggested emphatically.

"I think we could try persuading him again. Once he sees that we're not truly different than we were before, that we're still the same people, Niklaus will be convinced to drink." Rebekah said hopefully.

"It is Niklaus's choice." Finn stated calmly. They all stopped and turned to stare at him in surprise. "If he does not want to live like we now live, that is his decision to make and not ours."

"So we should just let him die then?" Kol spat at Finn furiously.

"We cannot simply force him to drink and become immortal, he would never forgive us." Elijah countered evenly, his frustration and concern were buried beneath his usual calm façade.

"So you agree with _Finn_? It is Nik's choice to lie in there and die?" His tone was incredulous.

"No." Elijah practically snarled, "that has never been an option. He has to drink but I'd prefer to find a manor of persuading him that does not involve prying his jaws open and pouring blood into his mouth."

"Have you no opinions to share?" Rebekah asked suddenly, turning towards their father who had remained seated at the table in silence, not contributing to the discussion.

"I do not know what you expect me to do about this." Mikael replied. "If Niklaus refuses to drink blood to save his own life there is nothing I can do about it."

"So you are just going to stand by and let him die? Your own son?" Rebekah demanded, too angry to even consider that she was standing up to her father for the first time in her life.

"There is nothing I can do to save him if he does not wish to be saved. Niklaus has always been painfully stubborn." He stood slowly from the table and stalked out of the hut looking exhausted. No one bothered to go after him.

They sat in silence after that, nobody having the will to pretend to currently care about anything other than their brother getting closer and closer to death just a room away from them. After what felt like an eternity, Esther entered the room and sat down, appearing as though she had left all of her energy in the other room with Niklaus.

"How is he?" Rebekah inquired, dreading the answer.

"He's sleeping now."

"How long until…" She trailed off, not wanting to finish.

"I cannot tell, a few hours, a day at most." She sighed. She had spent all of her tears crying over the death of her youngest son and in the first few days after the first stage of their transition, begging her blonde son to drink the blood she offered him and save his own life. "Where's your father?" She asked, her gaze swiftly travelling the room as though expecting to suddenly see her husband lurking in one of the corners.

"He left, I don't know where." Rebekah said irritably, not having forgiven her father for his lack of effort to keep her brother alive.

Esther smiled tiredly, "I will go and find him."

/

About half an hour later, Finn rose from the chair he had been sitting in and headed towards their bedroom.

"Where are you going?" Elijah demanded, although there was only one room in the direction he was heading.

"I am going to sit with Niklaus for a while, if that is alright with you." He added on snidely, causing Elijah to bristle.

"He probably just wants to say his goodbyes since he is determined that it is Nik's choice to die." Kol said scornfully.

Elijah waved a hand to get the attention of his brother and sister and held a finger to his lips before motioning that they follow him outside. They obeyed as silently as they were able and hoped that Finn was not listening out for movement from them.

Once outside and far enough from the house that they were certain Finn would not be able to hear them Elijah began speaking. "We need to do something to make sure Niklaus goes through with the transition and we cannot trust Finn to help us."

"I've already told you what I think we should do." Kol reminded them.

"What if we force him to drink and he despises us forever for it?" Elijah challenged with a raised eyebrow.

"At least he will be alive to hate us." Rebekah pointed out.

Elijah sighed, "I am not happy about this and I think we should continue trying to think of alternatives but, if in the next hour we have not thought of anything better, I suggest we follow Kol's plan," Elijah reluctantly agreed with his siblings.

/

Klaus was drifting in between dreaming and wakefulness when he heard a voice beside him, "'Lijah?" He slurred, opening his bleary eyes fully and, to his surprise, seeing Finn's light brown eyes gazing back at him. "What are you doing here?" He asked, his voice filled with confusion. Of all the people he had expected to see coming to visit him when he was dying he had not expected Finn.

"It seems that our siblings are planning to take action and save your life."

Klaus grew wary and watched his brother more carefully, "and what are you planning?"

"I'm planning to help you."

"How?" He rasped and was surprised when Finn slid his arm around his back and gently helped him sit up, before handing him the cup of water his mother had brought him and helping him take a tentative sip from it.

"I will not let them force you to become like this." he gestured at himself. "I have not… felt like myself since that night. I know there have been obvious changes, the strength, the speed but I feel as though there is more. We are all different, the others do not see it, or are at least refusing to acknowledge it, but something has changed within us and I hate it." He confessed, revealing more of his emotions to Klaus in this conversation than he ever had before in his life. "I do not believe that anyone is supposed to live forever, Niklaus. If you want to die human then I will help you. I will not let them force you to drink the blood."

Klaus smiled at his brother in gratitude and grasped his hand tightly for a moment.

/

"What are you doing in here?" Elijah asked suspiciously as he found Finn sitting beside the bed where Niklaus lay, although Finn had said that he was going to see their brother.

"I am merely sitting with our brother," Finn answered innocently. Elijah did not trust him for a second and watched him warily for a few moments before nodding once.

"Would you mind stepping outside for a moment so that I can speak with Niklaus alone." It was not a question.

"That would depend on what you want to _speak _to him about." Finn stated, getting to his feet and drawing himself up to his full height.

Elijah took a menacing step forward and glared into Finn's eyes, "I do not recall needing your permission to speak to our brother, Finn."

"Let him stay, Elijah." Klaus interjected weakly, before a fight between his brothers could break out.

"I do not see why Finn has a problem leaving you with me."

"What is in the water skin you are clutching so tightly." Finn challenged confidently.

"Water, obviously."

"I can smell the blood, Elijah. You were planning to force him to drink."

"Get out of my way, Finn," Elijah commanded, sick of talking about this.

"No."

"I will not stand back and allow Niklaus to die because you regret what mother has done to us."

"It is not your place to decide whether Niklaus lives or dies, Elijah."

Elijah felt the veins around his eyes shift beneath his skin and his fangs descended quickly as he growled at his brother. "Step aside, Finn, or I will not hesitate to rip you apart."

Finn watched him with a grim expression and moved into a defensive pose. Elijah leapt at his brother and slammed them both forcefully into the opposite wall, causing the whole hut to tremble.

"Stop!" Klaus called in a rasping voice. He was ignored by both of his older brothers.

Finn's large hand tightened around Elijah's throat, cutting off his air supply, leaving him gasping for a few seconds.

"Finn, let him go!" Klaus pleaded, not wanting his last memory of his brothers to be of them killing each other.

Elijah brought his hand forward with as much strength as he could gather and plunged it into Finn's chest. The effect was both shocking and sickening. Instead of colliding with hard flesh and muscle, Elijah's hand passed through skin and bone and into the warmth of his brothers chest. He felt his hand close around his brother's heart and watched as Finn coughed up a mouthful of crimson blood.

"Elijah, stop please!" Klaus cried, his voice cracking. He had never been truly afraid of either of his brothers before today. Then again, he considered darkly, he had never seen his brothers try to kill each other before today.

The door flew open and Esther burst in, "what is going on in here?" She demanded frantically.

The voice of their mother was the wake up both brothers needed. Finn released Elijah's throat and, horrified with himself, Elijah pulled his bloody hand out of Finn's chest and stepped away from him.

Mikael followed his wife into the room and looked at each occupant of it with suspicion.

"Elijah was going to force blood upon Niklaus and take away his choice. I was merely defending his right to that choice." Finn informed their parents, absolutely certain that he was the wronged party.

Esther walked towards Elijah and picked up the water skin of blood from where he had dropped it on the floor during the fight. "I cannot allow you to make decisions on your brother's behalf, Elijah." She informed him sadly. "Come away now." She instructed.

"Wait mother, let him stay, please." Klaus asked, looking beseechingly at her.

She paused for a moment before nodding and drawing Finn from the room, Mikael following without a backwards glance at either of his sons.

Elijah sat down hesitantly in the chair beside the bed. "Why did you let me stay?" He asked with genuine curiosity. He had been fully expecting Niklaus to beg their mother to take him and keep him away.

"You are my brother, Elijah. I know that you only wanted to help me. Did you want to talk to me when you came in or were you only planning on making me drink the blood?"

"I was going to try and talk to you first and if that did not work I was going to force the blood upon you." He answered honestly.

Niklaus nodded and smiled slightly. "So all it takes is my death to make the noble Elijah break his moral code." The blonde man joked.

"Allowing you to die was never a part of my moral code," Elijah replied, refusing to let Klaus make a mockery out of his own death.

"I know that you are angry, Elijah, I know that I would be if it were the other way around, but you have to accept that this is my decision."

"I have been protecting you my whole life. You, Finn, Kol, Rebekah… Henrich." His voice broke slightly on the last name and Klaus managed to reach out to lay a hand on his shoulder.

"And look at the spectacular job I have done." He laughed humourlessly. "Henrich is dead, I nearly killed Finn and Kol and Rebekah are confused and terrified about what has happened to us. I cannot let you die on top of all that." Elijah turned to his brother and felt a tear fall.

"It is not your fault, Elijah. None of it is. I was the one who got Henrich killed, it was me that drove mother to do this to us and it is because of me that you and Finn were fighting. You would all be better off without me." He smirked and tried to pretend it was a joke but Elijah saw through it.

"Do not ever say that again." Elijah snapped angrily. "This is not your fault."

"Father thinks so. Why else has he been so content to sit back and watch me die? He is the only member of the family who has not come to see me. Mother, Rebekah and Kol have all begged me to stay alive and Finn has said his goodbyes but father has stayed away from me. He cannot forgive me for causing Henrich's death and I do not blame him." He whispered brokenly.

Elijah returned the gesture of the hand on the shoulder and squeezed tightly. "Is this why you are so determined to allow yourself to die? Because you feel as though this is all your fault?"

Klaus did not answer, instead he stared down at his blankets.

"Niklaus, I am begging you. Please, just drink. It is not as horrible as Finn seems to think, we are still ourselves."

His brother looked up at him for a moment and considered his next words. "Today I watched Finn wrap his hands around your neck and tighten his grip until you were gasping for air. Then you shoved your hand into his chest and nearly pulled his heart from it."

"I cannot bear to watch you die," was the only answer Elijah could provide.

Klaus reached out and grabbed his brother's hand tightly, "it will be okay, 'Lijah, you still have Kol and Finn and Bekah."

/

An hour later Klaus had fallen asleep and Elijah could not stand to stay in their house for another minute. He desperately needed fresh air and to clear his head. He walked from the bedroom quietly and into the main room.

"Drink this, Finn, it will make you feel better." Esther promised, handing Finn a cup of something and stroking his hair. Elijah almost rolled his eyes, of course she was taking Finn's side, he had always been her favourite. He strode out of the door and into the cool evening air.

/

Rebekah was sitting at the table with Kol in the main room of the hut when Finn collapsed to the floor, the clay cup Esther gave him smashing on the ground as he fell.

"Finn!" Rebekah exclaimed, leaping to her feet to make sure her brother was unhurt.

"He is fine." Esther assured her, without so much as glancing at Finn's unconscious form from where she was cooking a broth on the stove. She ladled some into a bowl and headed towards the room Nik was sleeping in.

"What is going on?" Rebekah demanded of Kol, as though he would have more information than her.

"I am not fully sure but if it involves Finn being unconscious then I am perfectly happy for it to happen again." He replied lightly.

/

"Mother?" Klaus questioned as a blurry form appeared in the doorway.

"It is me," she assured him softly, placing a bowl by his bedside and lighting a lamp. He winced as the light that filled the room burned his eyes.

"I have made you some broth." She smiled gently at him.

"Thank you, mother but… I am not hungry." He knew that this was a sign he was getting closer to death.

"Please, Niklaus," she begged him, "it will make you feel better."

He very much doubted that but he hated the pleading look in her eyes so he reluctantly picked up the bowl and spoon and took a tiny spoonful of the broth into his mouth. He was surprised by how good it tasted, there was some beef and the usual vegetables but there was an undercurrent of something else, something he could not quite place.

He glanced up at Esther, to ask what was in it when he saw the expression on her face. He began to spit furiously trying to get all traces of the broth out of his mouth but it was too late he knew he had already swallowed some of it.

"Mikael!" Esther called, summoning his father into the room.

Klaus felt his face begin changing and was reminded of the black veins on his brothers' faces earlier in the day. He hissed as he felt something sharp prick his lower lip and draw blood- fangs.

Mikael hurried towards him with the water skin of blood grasped in his hand. "No!" Klaus protested, knowing that he would not be able to resist the allure of the blood, especially after having tasted it once.

Mikael grabbed his head firmly and pulled his mouth open. As he held the water skin to his lips, Klaus was unable to prevent himself from drinking the red liquid in greedy slurps, spilling it down his chin and over his white nightshirt, staining it gruesomely.

He heard himself utter an animalistic whine when he realised that all the blood was gone. His father chuckled quietly, the first positive sound he had heard from him in weeks and he looked up. While he had been preoccupied with gorging himself, Rebekah, Kol and Elijah had entered the room and were watching him, Elijah and Rebekah with shock and Kol with simple satisfaction.

"You tricked me," he accused his mother.

"I was not going to watch another one of my children die." She replied, without a hint of remorse. "You are my son and if I have to lie to keep you alive then I will do it." She informed him, missing him on the head and leaving the room quietly.

He found that he forgave his mother and father fairly quickly and could not find it in himself to be particularly annoyed with his siblings for being glad he was alive, even if it did mean that tensions between them and Finn were higher than usual. He supposed he was glad that they had saved him, he had yet to see any terrible side effects of what his mother had done to them.

**The end.**

**Yeah, I had to finish this with a bit of dramatic irony, I blame English lit.**

**I did not include the originals being burned by the sun in this because in season 2 Elijah said the sun couldn't hurt them and then 3x08 showed Rebekah getting burned by it but I chose to ignore that.**

**I'm never really sure how to write Mikael because while Klaus claims that he hated him from birth I find it hard to accept that Mikael hated Klaus for no reason. The show (at least in my opinion) has given no real explanation for why Mikael hated Klaus before finding out that he was not his son so I chose to write him as disliking Klaus but not, at least at this point, hating him. I suppose I write both Mikael and Esther as bad parents who do love their children.**

**I feel like both Elijah and Klaus were a bit out of character- Klaus is much nicer than I usually write him even as a human but I decided that since he's dying he's being nicer than usual because he thinks this is the last time he'll get to spend with his family. As Elijah is a new vampire I thought he might be angrier than usual and his desire to keep Klaus alive may lead to him doing things that he would not normally do, such as nearly killing Finn. **

**I would have liked to include Kol and Rebekah in this more but it just didn't turn out that way.**

**Anyway, hope everyone enjoyed it!**

**Please review.**


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